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The ships of the Task Force South headed down the harbour channel towards the open sea, and aboard his flagship Admiral Zhao Ji allowed himself a small sigh of relief. With full bunkers and sea room he could exercise the squadron to be ready for the great common fleet maneuver with the south african friends. His ships were accompanied by the Third Escort Division under the command of Rear Admiral Kuaji Wang and the two supply ships HICMS Xiangtan and HICMS Yuci. The course was set through the South China Sea, the Sunda Strait and then across the Indian Ocean.

The Audaz was on picket duty twelve miles off the port of Kaohsiung, with the mission of monitoring the movements of the Chinese fleet; it was a mission she had shared with her flotilla mates for the last several months. The first intimation that something was up was when Chinese anti-submarine craft began to search the waters off the port with great enthusiasm but small results. Then the sound of heavy screws could be heard on the submarine’s hydrophones, and the Audaz rigged for silent running as they passed overhead. When she returned to periscope depth she could see the rearguard of a substantial task force, on a southerly course. A warning was flashed to headquarters of the Northern Fleet at Cavite, and the Audaz made her best submerged speed to follow; for no one could be certain just what the Chinese were up to.

In the early evening hours of the 5th of January, an icy northwest wind swept over the naval base and brought the first snow of this winter to Tianjin. The small white crystals that swept from the high plateau of the Inner Mongolia glittered on the roofs. Large ice floes crashed on the sea, and outside, on the square in front of the building lay a ten-inch-high snow cover.

Only in a room on the first floor, at eight o'clock in the evening, was there still a light. Cigarette smoke, which filled the medium-sized conference room, as well as the heavily armed body guards, who were pacing outside in the corridor, was an unmistakable sign of the presence of the chain-smoking Commander-in-Chiefs of the North Fleet Fleetadmiral Wang Yin-Hua. In the conversation, which has lasted for hours, the Fleetadmiral once again pointed out that the existing ships with icebreaker capabilities were just enough to make the Bohai Bay on a small path passable. "We urgently need complete ice breakers." Wang Yin-Hua concluded his speech. "Not only your fleet is practically nailed at anchor in the harbour because of the ice, the shipping in general is very limited here in the north. If we don't do something soon, we are facing huge economic losses." agreed Ming Pi Wai, the chinese minister for Transport and Industry.

Qu Tanzhou, the director of the Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration, smiled and pointed to the drawings which are spread out on the table before them. "These ships are designed and will be constructed according to the latest state of the art. With them, we can guarantee the ship traffic for years, even in winter. And with the two big icebreakers, we are also in the situation should, one of our ships in the Arctic or Antarctic be in trouble, to rescue not only the crew but also free the vessel from the ice and tow it home."

The Sun Yat Sen Shipbuilding saw the building of two new ships for the Chinese Navy. On the slips are the HICMS Lauting, a mine transporter, and the HICMS Pengwu, a netlayer, laid down. These ship will surely fullfill their important tasks.

The sun was shining over Pratas Island, sometimes a breeze fanned and rippled the water. Construction cranes hoisted loads through the air, trucks carrying earth, stones and boulders. Soldiers, individually and in groups, scooped or dragged bulwarks, they spiked barbed wire and buried mines in unclear areas. The island was like a termite building, all over land, on the water and in the air were rush and activity. The diesel engines of the patrol boats bulged into the working noise, explosions bellowed, and in short intervals planes roared across the archipelago.
The Pratas Island base was steadily extended by the Chinese forces. The island had become an important cornerstone in the Chinese early warning system. China never know what the Filipinos are up to.

The ships of the Task Force South were now at sea for nearly a week and headed to the Sunda Strait. On the aircraft carrier HICMS Hengdao (ex Bharati “Aruval”) the daily service had become routine: 04:15 a.m. awaken the maintenance personnel - 04:25 a.m. breakfast - 04:50 a.m. wake up the aircraft crews. At 6:00 am the first patrol aircrafts take off.

Admiral Zhao Ji was on the bridge of his flagship HICMS Liu-Xin and looked at his ships. On the right, the aircraft carrier HICMS Hengdao, and on the left the seaplane carrier HICMS Dounan. The two heavy cruisers HICMS Daoguang and HICMS Guiyang followed in keelline. The destroyers drove around the convoy and a few nautical miles behind followed the two tankers and the light cruisers. „My fleet“, the admiral muttered to himself, „No wonder we have been shadowed since we left our fleetbase“ - he thought as he once again recognized in his binoculars the english ships.

„My fleet“, the admiral muttered to himself, „No wonder we have been shadowed since we left our fleetbase“ - he thought as he once again recognized in his binoculars the english ships.[/align]

The French cruiser Saint Louis will also be playing the Russian Trawler Game. :) The French will stay about 10km back, unless the "English ships" are getting in their way - at which point the French might drop back further, over the horizon, using their floatplanes to follow during the day, and then closing back up at night.

The Prime Minister of the chinese empire invites representatives of the Russian Federation and of the government of the Philippines to Beijing. China wants to expand its economic relations with the two countries and discuss the possibilities for an expanding of the chinese aviation network. While there is a fairly neutral relationship with Russia, the relation between China and its neighbour in the south east is still frozen. This is seen as a first step towards "relaxation".

“We are happy about the positive answer on our invitation and are looking forward to discuss with our russian neighbors a deepening of our economic cooperation.“ the chinese Prime Minister said in an interview about the commitment of the Russian Federation to participate in the talks.

And when asked what China thinks of the refusal of the Philippine delegation to talk with the Chinese government, Chiang Kai Chek replied:

“We are very sad that the Philippines are showing such an uncooperative behavior. We approached them open-minded and with open hands and would like to walk the path of relaxation together with them, but the behavior of the islanders is clearly aimed they want to keep a "poisoned" relationship between our two nations.”

The last few days the ship was extensively prepared for a new expedition. While the last trips have always gone to the cold south, the current destination this time is the far north. The aim of the expedition is to investigate the ice structure in the Bering Strait and north of it. In order to cause no incidents the HICMS Zhuhai will stay exclusively in international waters of the 85km wide Bering Strait. Of course, the insights gained during this expedition will also be incorporated into the construction of the new icebreakers. In addition, it will be investigated whether a northern route to Europe is even possible.

While the Bering Strait is more than eighty kilometers wide, the presence of numerous small islands in both the Bering Sea and the Chukchi Sea - which are Russian and United States national territories with corresponding territorial waters - will make navigation difficult; as will the seasonal ice pack.

Quoted

“We are very sad that the Philippines are showing such an uncooperative behavior. We approached them open-minded and with open hands and would like to walk the path of relaxation together with them, but the behavior of the islanders is clearly aimed they want to keep a "poisoned" relationship between our two nations.”

Uh, we didn't bomb Chinese cities while negotiations were underway for a settlement of our dispute. The carrier strike on Olongapo is still fresh in the memory of the Philippine people.

Quoted

The Bering Strait is about 82 kilometres (51 mi) wide at its narrowest point, between Cape Dezhnev, Chukchi Peninsula, Russia, the easternmost point (169° 43' W) of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, United States, the westernmost point (168° 05' W) of the North American continent. Its depth varies between 30 metres (98 ft) and 50 metres (160 ft).[7] It borders with the Chukchi Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean) to north and with the Bering Sea to south.

Found on wikipedia

That's why i mentioned the distance.

Btw ....

Quoted

In March 1913, Captain Max Gottschalk (German) crossed from the east cape of Siberia to Shishmaref, Alaska, on dogsled via Little and Big Diomede islands. He was the first documented modern voyager to cross from Russia to North America without the use of a boat.

OOC: Okay, thanks for the info. Russian cruiser Admiral Senyavin and icebreaker Svyatogor will be dispatched to shadow the Zhuhai once it reaches the Bering Sea.

IC:

Quoted

RF Foreign Ministry to Chinese Empire:
The Chinese Empire is advised that if it attempts to undertake any actions in the Arctic beyond the Bering Straits, as is currently planned by the publicized news of the Zhuhai expedition, it will be interpreted as a challenge to the Russian Federation's long-term geo-strategic interests.